our commercial moment blog hop

Another fun blog hop from L. at Viva Carlos!

What are you buying next? Not your "Wish I could" list but your actual practical pony shopping list. And if its a high ticket item you are saving for what is it and when do you expect to order/get it?

Since Equine Affaire is the weekend (yay!!!), I have a short list of stuff I want to find there:

• Teal saddle blanket for showing (having hard time finding one that is not huge for my short backed Haffie)
• Saddle pad (just bought one for $5 at a tack sale, but will be on the lookout for another)
• Dark leather reins
• Possibly a new dark leather bridle

Some other things I need and should probably get soon:

• Fly spray
• Vet wrap
• Treats (always)
• Coconut oil
• HIgher Standards Leather Soap and Conditioner (I just can't decide on the scent!)
• Mrs. Conn's Sponges. I want to try these. Seems so simple!

Boring, right? I just made a big purchase of my awesome saddle that I love, so I don't think any more large purchases are in order quite yet. 

Shyloh is not impressed

in love

Hey, Jaime and Haley,  Can we go tack shopping?

I'm gonna pop some tags

Only got twenty dollars in my pocket

I - I - I'm hunting, looking for a halter

This is f'ing awesome

Nah, walk up to the barn like, "What up? I got a little draft"

I'm so pumped about some shit from the tack shop

Ice on the fringe, it's so damn frosty

That people like, "Damn! That's a cold ass haffie."

Haley was up from Ohio over the weekend, so me and Jaime took her on a trek of tack shops that were located no where near the area that we are located. 

Shy was giving bareback and bridleless rides.

Our first stop was a Western Tack shop which was almost two hours away. The place was huge and had a ton of very over priced stuff. It was fun to look, even though the staff pretty much followed everyone around making comments on their products. I did by Shyloh a halter like the one she broke though. I had to take the tags off before I put it on her because it was pony sized, even though it was the exact same size as the broken cob sized halter (I brought the broken one for measurements). Shy gets embarrassed when she has to wear pony stuff because she is a horse. 

New halter! Only one she does not slip off when she goes inside.

Next we went to this little tack shop that was located on the Ingham County Fairgrounds. The GPS did not understand this concept, but we eventually found it. This shop was less than uneventful and seemed to be short on a lot of their inventory. But they did have Sleezys on sale, so Haley bought on for one of her Haflingers.  I bought a weight and height tape, just because. 

The third place was by far the best. It had a large selection of pretty much everything and it was very nice and not too over priced (because, really, isn't all tack over priced?). It was here that I fell in love. 

They had lots of saddles and we spent some time trying them out, even the English ones. And I fell in love with this:

A Tucker. It was soooo comfortable. It was the best thing I ever sat my ass on, for real. If I had that, I would definitely ride Shy, like right now. Instead, I have an ugly, uncomfortable saddle that I bought to hold us over because it was cheap and Shy had broken her previous saddle that I liked. 

But this Tucker saddle, it was beyond nice. When I bought Shy, I just wanted to trail ride. I didn't even really know about driving. I still want to trail ride. I would be happy if that was all we did. So I really need a saddle that is comfortable for both of us. I liked the way the saddle fit me, I liked the position I was in when I sat. I liked the high cantle and the no horn (cause, you know, boobs tend to pop out with horns). I also liked the fenders over the leathers that another one I tried had. I NEED that saddle. It even had the round skirt that Shy needs. So, if anyone wants to send that Tucker saddle my way, I will gladly give you my address. Until then, I will just drool over the photos and dream of ways to rearrange my finances to afford this saddle sometime in the future. 

barn mice

The barn mice are like winter ticks. Except I don't bring the mice home. The mice have decided that my locker is comfy and cozy and I have just enough things for them to ruin for their little homes. I am not down with this. . .

I'm cute, but I will ruin ALL the tack!

They are pooping little mice turds everywhere. All over my tack, shelves, grooming bag. . .just everywhere. They have invaded an empty plastic bag and destroyed a sponge to make a nest. A nest where I am sure that they plan on having millions of little mousey babies. 

Mouse house

The kicker was when I discovered that they began to take the fluff from Shyloh's too big shipping boots! Heck no! I plan on selling those! (Anyone want horse size navy blue shipping boots?)Luckily they just began to tear into the shipping boots and you can't even tell. I promptly removed those to my car before any further damage can happen. 

Mice are cute, but vectors of disease. The barn cats are not doing their job controlling the mouse population. I think they spend too much time in the heated barn. Oh cats. . .

I really don't want to kill the mice. They don't bother me, besides pooping everywhere. But destroying tack is a no no. I can't afford to replace tack just because a mouse needs a home. My first line of defense was all natural. I heard the peppermint oil put on cottonballs will keep the  mice away. So I went to the herb store where I get Shy's raspberry leaves and got some fresh peppermint oil. I doused practically the whole bag a cottonballs and placed them strategically around my locker (in the paces where the most poop was found). The I dumped the remaining peppermint oil on the wood shelves and floor. I thought my work was done. And the tack room smelled quite strongly of peppermint.

Puh-puh-pul-leeease don't kill me!

A couple weeks went by and I saw no evidence of critters. Yay, I thought! A natural way to keep the mice away. But this week I have noticed a poop increase. Boo. The peppermint smell is still pretty strong, so I think I have to resort to more forceful methods. I don't want to use poison. It is much too dangerous with the cats and horses. So I think I will go to live traps. We have some at the house, but I keep forgetting to bring them out. Basically, the mouse is lured in a box and a trap door shuts behind it. It doesn't kill the mouse. But I'm not sure what I am going to do with them after they are caught. . .if I set them free, they will just come back. Any suggestions? What do you do for problem critters at your barn?

Super goatee Shy!

my dogs are barking

Figuratively, not literally. Literally, the dogs are participating in their favorite past time, laying. Whew, I spent all day at the barn! Good thing I'm gellin' with my Dr. Scholls or my feet would be more sore! And now that I am home and not moving around, my sinuses are kicking in. 

I did go to the barn yesterday. Shyloh has found a NEW love. Forseti. We thought they would just be friends, but yesterday he threw her into heat and she was "winking" at him. That mare sure get around. . .first Chick, then Ryleigh, now Forseti. But Forseti is such a people lover that I think it is good for Shy to be around him and follow his example. 

Hot new couple at the barn

We let Forseti and Shy graze a bit, then I tried to get her to do some work in jumping. She just was not into it, maybe she felt it from me, being sick, or maybe her belly was full of grass. Either way, I did not press it because Shy usually does not give me trouble about doing work. Then I went straight home to sleep and hopefully kick this sickness. No luck. . .

So happy together!

Today, I helped Kathy again. I really enjoy the physical work of barn work. Feeding, mucking, letting horses out. . .it's my own therapy. Although I did get kind of stepped on by a rather large Percheron. We let Shy and Forseti graze together again. Shy was out there by herself and when I put Forseti with her, he galloped right to her and they stuck together like glue. After a while, I put her back in her paddock and Forseti ran to be with her. He would not leave her side! Sandy was a little upset, because every time she calls Forseti he comes to her. But with Shy in the picture, he was not going to Sandy! Those two horses are like peas in a pod! They are very attached to each other! Shy was trying to nap outside and Forseti was being her look out.l He had to protect her from the evil cows next door!

Shy and Forseti. . .always side by side

I set up another obstacle course for Shyloh. We learned a new move, the side pass! Shy did pretty good, but we need more work on it. I got some really good feedback from Terry today. Terry really knows her stuff when it comes to horses, especially Western stuff. She said my obstacle course is like a trail class. She also said that everything that I have been doing on the ground will translate into the saddle, I will just have to adjust my cues a little bit. So the trust that I am building with Shy now, will help when I start riding! 

Shy and Addie

And speaking of saddle. . .Mike got me a bridle and saddle pad for our 5 year anniversary! No saddle, but it is a start! He did a good job picking them out, too! Terry helped me switch out the bit and fit the bridle to Shy. Tonight I am going to out some leather stuff on it. Shyloh is such a patient horse. She just stood there without a fuss while Terry and I were adjusting and readjusting the bridle. I feel so lucky to have such a good pony!

Not the best picture, but the only one I have so far

Tomorrow, I have a little surprise for Shyloh! I hope it goes well!

it's a start!

I went to visit my dad today and on the way I stopped at the barn to say hi to the horse with no name. I also said hi to Ryleigh, Captain Morgan, and Resy.

My dad lives in an area with a lot of farmland and farm animals, so they have a lot of stores that we don't have. We stopped at the Rural King and I got some grooming supplies and a lead rope. I decided on a color or the horse with no name! It is going to be navy blue and some pink. Because she is a girl horse and people need to know that! Tractor Supply Company was next door, but they didn't have anything I wanted. Then we went to a store called Farm and Family or something. There I got a lunge line and a lunge whip. They didn't have navy blue or pink, so I got a turquoise lunge line and whip. Pretty!

I also spent a large part of the day thinking up names. I have a few, so I might try them out on her tomorrow.